Hitler and I - by Otto Strasser - one of the founders of the Nazi Party and a close associate of Adolf Hitler in the early days of the party, who rebelled against the Nazi doctrine and fled to France in the midst of the war - published by Houghton Mifflin company, Boston, 1940 - first edition in English.
The well-known book by Otto Strasser, a close associate of Adolf Hitler with the establishment of the Nazi Party and his great opponent after a time, the man who was the number 1 wanted man by the leaders of the Nazi Party. First English edition published in Hitler's lifetime. "The book exposes the strange personality of Adolf Hitler so that the reader can examine the dark threads that are woven together to create the tragic pattern of dying Europe. Before us is Nazism exposed, an epic picture of hatred in its great and petty forms" (from the introduction). The author Otto Strasser [1897-1974] was one of the founders of the Nazi Party in its early days, together with his brother Gregor Strasser (Gregor was murdered on the 'Night of the Long Knives' - on charges of opposition to the new regime). He led the left wing of the party, and broke away from it due to disputes with the ruling Hitler faction. Strasser established the 'Black Front' - a party designed to overthrow Hitler's rule. The group acted as a clandestine opposition during the days of the Nazi regime, and many of its members were killed on the "Night of the Long Knives" by the Nazis. In this book he describes in detail the days when the Nazi Party was established and the forces that brought it to what it became, he describes Hitler's personality at the beginning of his political path as a demagogic, power-hungry, manipulative, narcissistic person who lacked a clear vision beyond seizing power, he describes Hitler's state of mind in the days when he wrote "Mein Kampf", describes Hitler's erratic behavior whom he knew personally, his relationships with women, his morbid personality, and documents the German bloodbath he witnessed as early as the early 1930s, and details his prediction that Hitler is destined to be defeated by the West, and more.
He describes one of his conversations with Adolf Hitler: "You are wrong, Mr. Hitler", I told him. He stood in front of me with a look and shouted in anger, "It is impossible to be wrong. What I do and say is historical". And then he sank into deep silence. His head drooped and his shoulders drooped. He looked old and shriveled, exhausted from the role he played... There can only be one great power in Europe, Hitler once told me, and Germany, the most Aryan state, must become that power. When the time comes to settle accounts with France, the Versailles treaty will be child's play compared to the terms we will impose on it". The cynic, blind to nature and contemptuous of man: what joy can a man like Hitler find in life? He doesn't like anyone. He doesn't even enjoy nature, and his eyes see nothing of its beauty. He rarely smiles... He hates intelligence, and he suffers from his sense of inferiority. The small group of his associates affirms his deep belief that man is vulgar in his essence. From this wickedness he will never get rid of" (from the book).
Strasser himself, who was persecuted by the Gestapo, managed to escape from the territory of Germany and finally reached France, became the most wanted man by the heads of the Nazi regime, Goebbels the Minister of Propaganda called him: "Public Enemy No. 1 of Nazism" and offered $500,000 for his head. Among other things, Strasser tells the story of his escape from the pursuit of the Nazis across Europe, and illustrates the constant fear and danger faced by opponents of the regime. He exposes the internal mechanism of the Nazi party, the differences of opinion among its senior members, the way in which its propaganda methods were created, and its cruelty. After the war he returned to Germany and headed a new "national and socialist" party, which opposed the Nazi racial doctrine. The book was originally written in German, and in the same year (1940) was translated into English by Eric Mosbacher, and also into French.
248 [2] p. Hard cover with original dust jacket, all complete. Stains and slight tears to the spine of the dust jacket. Good condition.
